BRS two part

[saltgogi]

Hello,

I was wondering if someone could give me some insight.

I'm getting my dosing pump soon and was wondering if I could double the concentration and dose less in mL.
For example, I have 40 gallons of water. My calcium is at 400 and I would like to raise it to 420. BRS recommends I add 81.8 mL of calcium to raise it to 420 when I mix 2.5 cups of calcium chloride into 1 gallon. If I were to mix 5 cups of calcium chloride into 1 gallon, could I add 40.9 mL of calcium to raise it to 420 instead?

Also, what would be a good starting point for the automatic dosing for 40 gallons of water?
I saw on a youtube video and it told me to take volume of water and divide by 25 and multiply by 15 to get mL per day.

 

[Ef4life]

In theory you could make the solution more concentrated, but the water can only dissolve so much before it just sits at the bottom of the container not mixed. How much that is i don’t know.

As for dosing, don’t just start dosing an amount at random. You need to test your levels and then test them again in 2-3 days or longer, then figure out your daily uptake from your test results and dose that amount needed. Just starting off dosing it really helps to test everyday until things get settled in. And consistent. Then maybe go to testing at least 1x a week to check your levels and readjust your doashes

 

[jduong916]

Most might not do this, but I just mix the dry amount needed to boost 20ppm and mix it in a bowl with tank water until it dissolves and dump the whole thing in the sump. 20ppm is not much.

 

[Spieg]

Yes you can change the mixing ratio some, but as stated if you go too far, you'll reach the saturation level where the water can't suspend any additional material and it will just settle out of the solution. You also have to be more careful about precise dosing as being off by half a ml will throw off your tank stability over time. Why are you interested in doing this anyway? If you want to mix less often, why not just use a larger jug to hold the solution rather than messing with the ratio?

 

[saltgogi]

Yeah the goal was to mix less often. Unfortunately I can't fit a bigger reservoir in the space provided. I hadn't thought about throwing off the tank stability more by making it more concentrated. Good point. Also dry mixing sounds like a good idea too. Thanks everyone!

 

[mike550]

Yeah the goal was to mix less often. Unfortunately I can't fit a bigger reservoir in the space provided. I hadn't thought about throwing off the tank stability more by making it more concentrated. Good point. Also dry mixing sounds like a good idea too. Thanks everyone!

@saltgogi once you get your Alk and Ca to the levels you want and you have a sense of your consumption rate it will take less to maintain your levels.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I designed the two part that BRS uses to be reasonably easy to dissolve at home. You may be able to boost concentration, but double is likely not going to happen For the alk part , especially if the temperature is on the cool side, making sodium carbonate less soluble.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Most might not do this, but I just mix the dry amount needed to boost 20ppm and mix it in a bowl with tank water until it dissolves and dump the whole thing in the sump. 20ppm is not much.

That may work for calcium, but will make a messy precipitate with the alkalinity part.

 

[jduong916]

That may work for calcium, but will make a messy precipitate with the alkalinity part.

Now that you mention it, I don’t think I’ve ever boosted my alk. Only calcium tends to get lower in my tank. Good to know for future reference.